So I am sitting bed with my cup of tea, looking out of the window at this. It is a bright sunny morning here in rural France; and I am looking at my favourite tree. I have written about it often, calling it my Tree of Tao, because it just goes with the flow whatever the weather; it just takes life as it comes.

To be able to see this every day, is a blessing because I have incredibly bad eyesight, and I treasure the gift of sight. It’s also a blessing because it calms me and grounds me, reminding me that we are just small blips on a much bigger picture; and that all the things we think are important aren’t that important at all.

It sways in the breeze, and it sways in the storms and raging winds, it is always serene; when we look nature shows us so much.

Happy Christmas everyone, share with us the small things you count as blessings, they could inspire others.

As I have got older I have started to find that we seem to have lost what Christmas is about.

Christmas was originally a pagan festival to celebrate the Winter Solstice, it was just taken over by the Christian faith and Christmas was born. It was meant to be a time for reflection on the year past and to celebrate the small things we have. I really believe have lost that along the way.

My beautiful boy Harley, who we re-homed five years ago, after a relationship breakdown took place. He made us fall in love with the Welsh Terrier, and he is a mummy’s boy. We nearly lost him last year after he ruptured his disc in his back, you can read about it here…

Today this is my blessing: Harley.

I hope that in this time of madness and frenetic rushing about this may inspire some of you to just stop; and reflect; and then join me in sharing your blessings with us by telling us the one small thing that you are counting as a blessing each day over this time of celebrations and gratitude.

This was our roof from three years ago, after it had been attacked by storm Katie and annihalated by a twister going right through our garden.

As most of you know it has been the hardest part of this adventure to find work, or people you can trust to work for; and so we had no money to repair it. I have written only recently how we did not let that stop us, we carried on, we had no choice. (Boy can I see that what Rich and I went through was in prep for this adventure, because we already knew that nothing could beat us!)

But as I wrote in September the roof was finally being replaced; and oh my it is a piece of art!

Our wonderful builder Rob is a skilled man, because the roof had been open to the elements for so long some of the rafters had to be repaired (not replaced because bless him he knew we had to keep costs down.)

Being a carpenter Rob repaired joists and the result, particularly at the back of the roof is stunning; with it’s curves it looks like a wing of one of the kestrels or eagles that fly around us up here.

I love the contrast of the black tiles (black is de rigeur because we are in a protected national park, in fact we have only just found out that our barn is classed as a listed building because it was built in 1812) and the zinc edging that catches the light.

Having lived for three winters with the rain pouring in at times (we only had a worn out old tarp to protect it and we had bowles everywhere catching the water) my husband now dances round the kitchen every time it rains singing the ‘We’re lovely and dry’ song! Small things eh?!

This year we have achieved a lot with new doors and the new roof we are now warm and toasty; which means that the electric heater in the kitchen keeps us warm and the old calor gas fire, that we had in the kitchen, has now been moved up into the bedroom where I write, no more cold feet and hands for me this winter!

As I sit here this morning, with my first cup of tea of the day (I am English after all!) I have found the urge to write.

The picture above is my garden at this present moment that I am writing this. The view from the valley as you can see is totally obscured because there is a thick fog and autumn has finally rolled in. A complete contrast to just weeks ago..

For the first time this season we have condensation on our windows, and single figure temperatures outside, but our house is warm. The roof on our kitchen has finally been replaced (more of that to come in another post) and add to the mix our new front door and the difference it has made is immeasurable. I smiled to myself today when I looked at our doors, and there was no condensation on them.

Sadly they are nowhere near as pretty as our old door, but it had to go, it was beyond repair (and trust me I tried) the oak had split from the hundred years of driving rain and wind it had endured so it could not be saved. We have re-used it (as you would know we love a bit of old and vintage, and will repurpose where we can, you only have to look at our Etsy shop) as a feature in our garden, it now plays the part of a secret door into a fairy kingdom.

I know we’re mad! But helps in life sometimes!

I love the autumn, One of the biggest things for me about living here is the changing of the seasons. I’ve said it before and I will probably say it again; it is a constant reminder that things change, and that although they will come back again they will never be the same as the one before. Nothing in life ever is. For me the autumn is the most poignant because all the things are dying off, it is the end of something that you will never get back, and it is a reminder to treasure every moment.

As some of you may know I am sharing a story from long ago about Rich and I, it has taken off. It is a sad story, but remembering where we are now, it is a story of hope. It too is a story of something dying and then coming back again, but in a different way, it was never going to be what it was before. Perhaps it is apt that I decided to share it in the autumn!

For those who have read my blog over the years you will know it made us stronger, and gave us the courage to take this adventure; and despite the hardships we have had along the way they have never broken us, almost sometimes, but we have always got through.

We have learnt that money really does not buy you happiness, and material things may give you comfort but they don’t make you happy. Because despite having no water, no roof, a leaking cesspit, dodgy cars at one point, and at times been down to the last six euros to our name, things have always come through, because we are happy in our minds. We have the ability to laugh, sometimes at each other, every day. We lost our egos.

So yesterday we read a passage from the Tao and the explanation asked a question, to think about what you thought made you happy and then ask yourself if that were true. It was designed to help people realise that the material things they bought did not really make them happy. So Rich and I both thought about it independently and both came up with the same answer, independently: it was to sit in our garden and look out across the valley.

We love our life, we love the simplicity and we both agreed that even if we had enough money to not have to worry about spending it, we still wouldn’t go out for meals, our greatest pleasure would be to sit in our garden and look at the view, with each other. (And all the furries of course!)

I have been attempting to write a post since Wednesday, but other things got in the way and suddenly my birthday was upon me and then gone and I had still not written a post. This was not the post that I meant to write, that is being saved for another day now because my birthday yesterday has inspired me to write this one.

I guess you could say that small and meaningful things have given me inspiration.

As most of you know I believe that life shows you the way, I go with the flow, and I never plan too far ahead, because then I would be stopping things coming my way that I had not realised were even available to me. My birthday was not exception!!

Rich has been away with a friend and I have been here on my own since Monday. As usual I made myself a big long list of what I wanted to get done ( I don’t say have to, or must any more because then it just pisses you off and you don’t want to do it!) As normal my list was ambitious and I have come to accept that I never get my lists done because I just set my aims too high!!

But I did want to clean my house, we had found a fantastic mold spray and I cleaned all the mold from our bedroom, downstairs and also cleaned upstairs and downstairs (literally moved the furniture everything.)

The big plan was that I could then sit down on my birthday (yesterday) and just sew, knit, watch and old film, make my new range of hearts and stars – iridescent and sparkly I love them! To just do what I wanted without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else.

Yesterday came and I made my cup of tea (typically English folks I have to have at least two cups of tea in the morning!) in bed and my friend Jan rang me on Messenger to wish me happy birthday. Then I happily spent time on Facebook looking at the messages from people wishing me happy birthday – little did I realise that was only the start.

Off I popped downstairs for another cup of tea and to open my only card from my sister, I was not sad it was my only card, normally I am not worried about cards, but when two more arrived later I was excited (it’s the small things.) When she rang as I was opening it and now I know why because she had thoughtfully put fifteen euro in the card because, as she explained, I had said how much I fancied scampi and chips and this would enable me to buy some! That small simple thought, not just giving someone money but noting that I really fancied something that is expensive to buy over here so giving me the money to allow me the money to buy it without feeling guilty. A small and meaningful thing. I was then on the phone chatting to her for two hours.

I went back to bed and had another cup of tea (I know folks! I am English) and snuggled with the Welshies; how can you resist a snuggle with two teddies? I am blessed – small things but so precious.

At lunchtime I got up, did a small tidy up and then took the dogs for a quick walk down the lane, looking in amazement at the now swollen river that flows at the bottom of the valley, (it is not normally visible but we have had so much rain here this winter all of the rivers have burst their banks!! ) and still marveled at the fact that I live here. Small things, but something that money cannot buy!

After my walk I sat down (with a cup of tea! Yes there is a recurring theme!) and started my sewing. But after only fifteen mins my mad friend Jan arrived clutching a card, bottle of wine, packet of crisps, biscuits and a gift for me – a beautiful mouse mat (perfect for a writer!) with moons and fairies on, she knows me so well; and that was the afternoon gone as we sat and put the world to rights with a glass of wine and some aperitifs (crisps or chips for my American readers.)

Now Jan does not have a lot, but she still wanted to give to me and that meant a lot, that small thing.

After she left I checked face book only to find fourty eight messages from people wishing me a happy birthday; all of them meant so much because people had simply taken the time. But for me it was the ones from people who I have never met but have made friends with via face book since moving here; these people are lovely supportive people who just want the best for others in the same way I do; and one particular message from an old school friend, whose husband died suddenly at the end of last year, the fact that she had taken time to wish be happy birthday really touched me – small small things for which I am truly grateful.

On messenger had messaged from people from all over, not least one from my beloved husband singing me happy birthday – when my book comes out you will realise why Rich and I cherish the small things because we know what a huuuuuuge difference they can make to your life

And I will add here that this particular part of my blog is for a group of people who have recently joined it because some of them have said that we give them hope. This is one of the lessons you have to look at the small things, trust me I hope that when you read this my small action now will help you on your journey (sometimes over really rough oceans!)

I rang an elderly aunt who shares a birthday with me, my best friend Karen rang me to wish me happy birthday, as did my lovely husband and so before I knew it it was early evening already, I had not done any more sewing, not watched a film, not worked on any more of my hearts of stars, not done any knitting. Life had taken me on a completely different path to the one I planned to take, and I loved it and felt so loved by everyone’s small actions, and I had celebrated a wonderful, simple birthday, full of small things.

Then last night as I went to bed my son rang me via messenger to wish me happy birthday, and call me old!! Small things!

So I have decided that as my birthday is so close to the weekend I will make it a birthday weekend, we will have lamb chops instead of scampi (thanks Sis!). I will drink the bottle of Kiri Royale my dear friends have sent me and yey!!! Hubby’s home, the best gift of all.